NCQA Shifts to Web-Based Survey; Interactive Survey System to Streamline Process, Provide Immediate Feedback

7/31/2003

From: Brian Schilling or Barry Scholl, 202-955-5104 or 202-955-5197, both of the National Committee for Quality Assurance

WASHINGTON, July 31 -- The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) today announced the launch of several programs, including its core Managed Care Organization (MCO) Accreditation program, on its new, Web-based Interactive Survey System. In addition, several new programs-including Privacy Certification for Business Associates, a collaboration with the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) -- are also debuting on the industry's first online accreditation platform.

NCQA's Interactive Survey System (ISS) will fundamentally change the way health care organizations are reviewed, simultaneously making the process faster and more efficient while also providing organizations with more immediate feedback. The Web-based survey process will offer improvements over NCQA's previous paper-based process, including, in some instances, a reduction in the need for travel. The new process also will introduce new communications, management and tracking capabilities that will simplify and support survey preparations.

"The Interactive Survey System delivers efficiency without sacrificing rigor," said NCQA President Margaret E. O'Kane. "Organizations can save key documents, communicate across their company and track progress using a single online tool. As a result, they can better coordinate and more thoroughly prepare for surveys."

About NCQA's Interactive Survey System

NCQA's Interactive Survey System was unveiled in February 2002 with the introduction of NCQA's Disease Management (DM) Accreditation and Certification programs.

"It was a privilege to use the Interactive Survey System during our Disease Management survey," said Bradley P. Gilbert, M.D., Medical Director, Inland Empire Health Plan. "The Interactive Survey System was an asset to the accreditation process and proved to be highly effective for internal organization of required documents. We look forward to using it for our next MCO Survey."

The ISS combines and expands on three former publications and tools: the Surveyor Guidelines, Data Collection Tool and Electronic Roadmap. The ISS takes advantage of Web functionality and facilitates the compilation of data, the tracking of changes and communication with survey team members.

The ISS also gives organizations the ability to conduct a full readiness evaluation prior to their actual survey, view initial scores on individual elements of the standards, keep notes about progress and preparation and perform a "Completeness Check" of their data submissions.

"Electronic tools like the Interactive Survey System deliver real advantages in managing all the pieces of a survey," said Patricia Stream, Vice President, Accreditation and Regulatory Management, Aetna. "In particular, a readiness evaluation is vital to our survey preparation, and the Interactive Survey System will give us an efficient way of organizing our efforts."

Benefits of NCQA's Interactive Survey System

NCQA's transition to the ISS will afford substantial benefits to organizations undergoing surveys:

-- Organizations can use the ISS's Web-based Survey Tool to evaluate their own readiness prior to a survey, an important facet of NCQA's new survey process.

-- Surveys will occur in two stages. The first, or "off-site," portion begins when an organization submits its completed Survey Tool. Much of NCQA's review will be conducted during the "off-site" stage, when NCQA surveyors will review the completed Survey Tool, thus reducing the duration of the "on-site" stage of the survey.

-- Multiple users may access the Survey Tool simultaneously, make and save changes, and share notes about survey-related matters, resulting in more effective survey preparation.

-- Corporate or multiple-entity organizations will have an opportunity to complete certain portions of their Survey Tool just once and then apply those responses to the surveys of each individual organization. This is expected to help such organizations reduce their travel and related expenses incurred during multiple surveys.

2004 MCO Standards Released Today

NCQA's final 2004 Standards and Guidelines for the Accreditation of MCOs were released today on the ISS. Key changes to the standards reflect NCQA's increased emphasis on performance. They include the requirement of additional Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set (HEDIS) measures for accreditation; since many of the additional HEDIS measures focus on prevention, NCQA has also retired a number of preventive health standards that would otherwise be redundant. The 2004 standards also classify several existing elements as "must pass," which will allow NCQA to demonstrate that accredited organizations meet certain consumer protection standards. A more complete accounting of the changes to NCQA's 2004 MCO standards is available online at http://www.ncqa.org/communications/publications/ncqaupdate/jul03update.htm.

The 2004 Standards and Guidelines for the Accreditation of Managed Care Organizations and the 2004 MCO Survey Tool are available for purchase at NCQA's Web site, http://www.ncqa.org, or by calling 888-275-7585. (An organization need not purchase the Standards and Guidelines if it is purchasing the Survey Tool.) Later this year, NCQA will release its 2004 standards and Interactive Survey System for other programs, including Managed Behavioral Healthcare Organization (MBHO) Accreditation and Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) Plan Accreditation. NCQA will begin conducting surveys for its full range of accreditation and certification programs under the Interactive Survey System as of July 1, 2004; a Survey Tool is required to complete all surveys scheduled after that time.

Collaborative Programs Operating on NCQA's Interactive Survey System

NCQA has also launched, or will shortly introduce, several new collaborations or partnerships with other organizations. These include the Heart/Stroke Recognition Program with the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, which will launch on the ISS on August 5. NCQA is also collaborating with JCAHO to offer Privacy Certification for Business Associates, off-site surveys for which are slated to begin in September. In addition, NCQA and JCAHO have formed the Partnership for Human Research Protection, Inc., which will launch on the ISS on August 6, with off-site surveys to begin shortly thereafter.

NCQA is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. NCQA accredits and certifies a wide range of health care organizations, recognizes physicians and physician groups in key clinical areas and manages the evolution of HEDIS, the tool the nation's health plans use to measure and report on their performance. NCQA is committed to providing health care quality information through the Web, media and data licensing agreements in order to help consumers, employers and others make more informed health care choices.